Posts tagged Aaron Withe
Op-ed: 8 years after Janus, unions are still trying to keep workers in the dark
July 6, 2026 // The National Education Association’s headquarters dues revenue fell from $370 million in fiscal 2017 to an inflation-adjusted $310 million five years later — a decline in real terms of about 16 percent. Nationally, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show public-sector union density slid from 33.9 percent in 2018 to 32.2 percent in 2024, before edging back up to 32.9 percent last year. States that gave workers more direct control over their own dues saw the effect even more clearly. After Florida ended government payroll deduction of union dues in 2023, the Florida Education Association lost more than 20,000 members in a single school year. When workers must actively choose to pay, rather than having dues quietly deducted by default, a meaningful share of them chooses not to.
WATCH: Eight years later, quiet opt-out rules can’t stop millions saved in union dues
July 1, 2026 // But according to Washington Policy Center’s Director of the Center for Healthcare and Worker Rights Elizabeth New, many employees still don’t understand they have an “opt out” option. “A lot of workers still don't know about this right. It isn't included on required workplace posters about a worker's rights. It's not listed on a state website where other rights are listed," said New in a Thursday interview with The Center Square. "So, if your membership is truly voluntary, and we care about all workers' rights, employees should receive neutral information about membership before a union gives them paperwork to sign up.”
Teachers Union Anti-Trump Lawfare Cases Have Little Connection to K-12 Public School Education
December 4, 2025 // The AFT began as exclusively a teachers union but has six separate divisions that also represent other public school employees, such as teacher aides, custodians, and bus drivers, as well as health care workers and higher education faculty. The union’s website says it also represents public employees, including federal and state employees. “The AFT’s lawsuit spree against the Trump administration reveals what we’ve long known: these organizations have strayed far from their mission of representing teachers,” Aaron Withe, president of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a conservative education group, told The Daily Signal. “This is exactly why so many teachers are choosing to opt out—they want representation focused on their profession, not a political action committee.”
Nation’s 2 largest teachers unions funneled nearly $50M to left-wing groups, watchdog report says
August 25, 2025 // Left-wing philanthropic behemoths like the Tides Network, New Venture Fund, Sixteen-Thirty Fund and Future Forward, the last of which was the main Super PAC supporting Kamla Harris' 2024 presidential run after former President Joe Biden dropped out, all received a combined nearly $1.5 million from the unions, according to the report. The unions also forked over significant amounts of cash for groups that focus on supporting left-wing candidates for public office, such as the Democratic Governors Association, Democrat's House Majority and Senate Majority PACs. Other groups they have donated to include major left-wing think tanks like the Center for American Progress and its 501(c)(4) arm, which received close to a million dollars since 2022 from the two unions.
Fitzgerald, Lummis Introduce STUDENT Act to Curb Out-of-Control NEA
July 24, 2025 // Although it was originally incorporated in the District of Columbia in 1886, Congress granted the NEA a federal charter in 1906. Today, it is one of only 95 federally chartered “patriotic and national” organizations such as the Boy Scouts, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and the VFW. The NEA is the only labor union with a federal charter and the only federally chartered organization to engage in extensive political advocacy. While repealing the NEA’s charter would rightly signal congressional disapproval for the organization as it exists today, the STUDENT Act would amend the NEA’s charter to require practical changes in the union’s operations.
Jewish teacher suing Portland teachers union over alleged antisemitic curriculum
June 10, 2025 // “He remains anonymous because what happened to him was so horrifying and caused him so much PTSD that he doesn't want to come out with his name,” said Freedom Foundation Litigation Counsel Shella Alcabes. “He's scared of the kind of retribution he's going to get.” Alcabes told The Center Square, their client, a high school math teacher-opted out of paying union dues to PAT, but is still required to be represented by the association in collective bargaining negotiations with his employer. “He worked for one school where he was bullied and harassed. He eventually was able to move to another school, but that doesn't change that PAT still represents him,”
Freedom Foundation Sues California Public Employment Relations Board
March 18, 2025 // “The Public Employment Relations Board is trampling on free speech and workers’ rights, all to protect union interests,” said Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe. “By enforcing these unconstitutional statutes, they are silencing the Shasta County Board and preventing public employees from receiving crucial information about their rights.” “These laws do a real disservice to public employees, forcing them to rely solely on unions for information that the unions have no intention of providing,” said Freedom Foundation Litigation Counsel Ravi Prasad. “Workers deserve the truth about their options. But these statutes ensure that workers only hear unions’ perspectives on the merits of union membership, while silencing any public employer who disagrees. This is textbook viewpoint discrimination.”
The Freedom Foundation creates teachers’ union alternative
March 10, 2025 // “Public employees are leaving their unions in record numbers, frustrated by the funding of radical agendas driven by union bosses,” Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe said in a news release. “The Teacher Freedom Alliance offers an alternative for pro-America educators who seek to restore traditional values in the classroom and provide students with the high-quality education they deserve– free from political influence and union control.”
Freedom Foundation Announces the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a Non-Union Alternative for Educators
March 8, 2025 // The Teacher Freedom Alliance (TFA) was created to address the growing frustration teachers have with the direction public education is rapidly heading in no small part due to the radical agenda of the teachers unions. The Teacher Freedom Alliance supports educators in their mission to develop free, moral, and responsible citizens. As an alternative to traditional unions, TFA offers pro-America educators a place to find support and comradery in an organization dedicated to restoring the broken education system—without any additional cost to those who choose to join. TFA is committed to promoting traditional educational values, providing teachers with superior resources, and fostering a school culture where educators are empowered to advocate for themselves and their students with an emphasis on excellence in the classroom over radical ideologies. With teachers increasingly disillusioned by the agendas and reckless political spending of union leadership, TFA offers a much-needed alternative.
A Tale of Two Teachers’ Unions
November 17, 2023 // Efforts to decertify the teachers’ union in Miami are possible because conservatives won elections and passed a good law that limits public-sector unions’ power. States with conservative governments should follow Florida’s lead and pass similar laws. States with progressive governments will continue to struggle under the burden of unrepresentative teachers’ unions.